Soul Seeker
by muzicfan5
Summary: Horribly injured from war can two people find love? one shot. 1 brief VERY graphic scene.


A petite girl lay in the hospital wing with a nervous lean frame bent over her holding her hand tightly in his own. She stirred slightly, her joints felt like they hadn't been used in weeks. Feeling the movement a head covered in messy black hair jerked up over a small curvy frame. His jade green eyes stopped on her toffee colored ones as they flitted open.

"Moine! You're ok! I thought I had lost you..." Harry trailed off as his voice caught in his throat.

He had known Hermoine for eight years now; meeting for the first time on Hogwarts Express when she repaired Harry's broken glasses for him. She seemed so stuck up back then, but she was always brilliant. Everything changed when that troll was let into the castle and Hermoine risked getting in trouble to save Harry and Ron. She felt it was the least she could do for them since they had prevented her from being smashed by that troll's club. She had spent her whole time at Hogwarts helping Harry and Ron with school work and never ceased to amaze them. She was brilliant; she should have been a teacher or something Harry thought.

How she loved her books. Hermoine had never been very good at fighting; she was wonderful at strategy but never at actually putting the moves into play. Ron and Hermoine had helped Harry to fight to the end. As soon as they had gotten out of Hogwarts, they moved into the house of black and began working closely with the order of the phoenix. Harry knew that in the end, either he or Voldemort needed to die at the hand of the other. He had known this for years now, but that didn't make it any easier to do. Hermoine and Ron came up with the final battle plans and Harry set them into action.

Ron, Harry and Hermoine had been practicing hard for the final battle. He didn't want Hermoine to go, he knew deep down inside that if she did he could lose her forever. He didn't think he could stand to lose the only other people that had cared about him no matter what happened. Hermoine had been there for him no matter what happened; even after Sirius had died and he tried to push everyone away. Hermoine never faltered. The Dursley's had left him at home to sulk while they went on holiday. Mrs. Figg across the way was to check on him every once in a while, but they couldn't get him to go spend a few nights with her, he wouldn't eat, couldn't sleep, he just sat on his bed staring at the wall wondering what could have been and blaming himself for Sirius' death.

Hermione heard that they left him and convinced her parents for a ride to his house. She walked into his room despite Harry's yelling and screaming and threats of hexing. Hermoine knew Harry couldn't hex her even if he wanted to, they weren't at Hogwarts now and he would get thrown out of school. Well she thought so anyway, Harry grabbed his wand to do some damage, but Hermoine simply wrapped her arms around him and rubbed his back in a soothing manner as he began to tremble with tears. Harry ended up lying on his bed crying for an hour with his head in Hermione's lap as she rubbed his back and played with his hair. She muttered words of comfort telling him that he was strong and would make it through this. She knows it hurts now, she couldn't even begin to imagine how much pain he must be in, but she wasn't going to leave him until he was feeling better.

Harry couldn't believe he had ever pulled his wand on this girl. He loved her more than anything. When he watched her fall to the ground during that final battle he swore he felt his heart breaking. He thought he had lost her too, his best friend, his confidant...his lover. Every since Sirius had died Harry had learned how much more he cared about Hermoine. He hadn't realized just how much he loved her.

Harry was roused from his thoughts by a tugging on his hand. He realized that Hermoine had been trying to sit up properly but couldn't seem to get her hand free to get upright in a timelier manner. He smiled at her absentmindedly but still wouldn't relinquish her hand of his own. He instead took to gently stroking her hand and wrist with his fingers.

"Would you mind being of some use?" Hermoine asked teasingly.

"I do mind actually, you need bed rest young lady."

"Would you at least tell me what day it is then?"

"June 13th"

"Harry, I've been in bed for two weeks then, I think its safe to say I can get up at least for a little while." Hermoine mustered the sternest voice she could before adding "Harold James Potter. Help me get out of this bed!"

Harry smirked then brushed his lips against her knuckles before he pulled the covers back on her bed and helped her swing her legs over the side of the bed.

Hermione looked terribly thin. She had been unconscious for a week and a half and only started coming out of it over the past few days. Harry hadn't left her bedside since she was admitted. Madam Pomfrey had shoed him out occasionally to go get something to eat in the great hall, or to go bathe, but that's where it ended. For the first few days he had been in the hospital bed next to Hermione's, Ron had a broken wrist, and a few cuts, but was cleared to go home after a night. There were a few other casualties; Snape had been in the bed in the far corner keeping to the shadows for a few days as well. He had been hit by some complex curses but was back to his usual grumpy self in no time.

Madam Pomfrey came buzzing into the room and tutted when she saw Hermoine on the edge of the bed. "Mr. Potter, what on earth are you doing? You know Miss Granger should be in bed."

"It was my idea to get up Poppy, I've been in bed for 2 weeks and I dare say my joints could use a good stretching."

Madam Pomfrey examined Hermoine thoroughly before she allowed her to get up and go for a walk around the castle. She had only consented to that last bit after Hermoine had promised to come back within an hour's time for another check and that she would spend the next few nights in the hospital wing as well.

"Fancy a stroll around the lake?" Harry set a questioning gaze onto Hermoine. She grinned before asking Harry if he'd seen her clothes, she didn't fancy much of anything wearing a gown from the hospital. Harry chuckled before he pulled a bag from beneath the table; he had packed it one day after he had been kicked out of the hospital wing by Madam Pomfrey for his _sanity's sake._

Harry turned his back as Hermoine shimmied into a pair of jeans and pulled a loose v-neck t-shirt over her head. She began to run a brush through her mane of hair as she told Harry that she was decent. She pulled her hair quickly into a messy ponytail atop her head before they headed outside to get some fresh air. Hermione's legs seemed a bit shaky at first but Harry quickly tucked Hermione's hand into the crook of his elbow to help her to steady herself and slowed his pace as well. No use in rushing. Hermione's limbs seemed grateful for the use, it had been far too long since they had been put to use. By the time the pair had walked out of the front entrance Hermoine seemed far steadier on her own feet and had been able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.

Hermione turned to Harry and looked deeply into his eyes; there was a definite sadness behind his eyes. Hermoine sighed deeply before she took her wand out and transfigured a rock into a soft blanket and sat down in the shade of a big tree looking over the lake. Harry was concerned that this walk wasn't a good idea, that it was too far and Hermoine was tired already.

"Sit down" she instructed Harry, he did as he was told. "We need to talk..." Hermoine paused thinking of the best way to say what was on her mind. She and Harry had never actually become a couple, but he was acting awfully odd since she woke up.

"Harry...what's going on?" Hermoine settled for asking a general question to see if he would give up information easily or if she would have to wrestle it out of him.

"What are you on about 'Moine?" Harry looked utterly puzzled. "Is this about the final battle?"

Hermione sighed out of frustration; this was certainly going to be a difficult conversation. "Well, we can start there..."

"Start?"

"Yes, start."

Harry was the one to sigh this time. He didn't want to think about it, about Hermoine getting blasted and falling limply to the ground. "Well I guess we can start off after you..."

"Were unconscious..." Hermione finished for Harry.

"Lupin ran after the Death Eater who had attacked you after you fell. He fought very hard, felt like he needed to make him pay for what he did to you. He really is a sweet old man. Well anyway, so he picked up your fight, as I took down Lucius who was the last protector of Voldemort. We dueled. He tried several times to use unforgivables on me, but I dodged them and threw curses back at him, but I didn't stoop so low as to use unforgivables. He did look rather funny dancing uncontrollably though." Harry allowed himself to chuckle as the image of his distorted body with feet flailing wildly from under his body. "While he was down I hit him with a silencing charm and an anti-apparation jinx as well. Because his voice was no longer audible his spells didn't have as strong of an effect, however it wasn't nearly as effective since Voldemort was such a powerful wizard anyway. So I bound him with a few more spells and took away his wand, breaking it in half so he could no longer use it. I was sure that his hands were bound before I reached into my robes and pulled a knife out. I wanted to ensure his death so I slit his throat and stabbed him through the heart and waited for his pulse to stop..." Harry paused a moment waiting for this information to sink in. Hermoine had a ghastly look on her face. What Harry had done was outright savage, but we all knew what he needed to do. "After I was almost positive he was dead I preformed a few more spells to ensure that his wounds would not heal unless the curses were lifted. I also decapitated him and ripped out his heart then threw it into the woods. I wasn't taking any chances with that bastard."

Hermione was paled with a slightly green tint at the graphic nature of the end of the battle, but she understood that Harry needed to either kill or be killed when Voldemort was in question and he had already come back from what people thought was the dead on more than one occasion. He had attacked Harry once every year for the past eight years, if I was in that same position I probably would have done the same thing, Hermoine thought to herself.

Thoughts whirled around Hermione's mind. She could see so many images flooding though her brain. Images of Harry cut and bleeding, dragging himself towards the safety of his friends and members of the Order. He was covered in blood, not all of it being his. A knife clenched in his hand, his robes torn and dirt caking up his injuries. Hermoine knew she hadn't seen Harry upon returning from the battle with Voldemort, but knew that he must have looked something like that. She instantly wanted to comfort him and prevent such a thing from happening again. Harry's life had been far from picture perfect. His parents were murdered when he was just a babe, he was treated like scum for years from his only living family, when he finally found out that his godfather was alive and well and wanted Harry he was taken away from him by Voldemort as well. Voldemort had tried to kill him no less than 8 times and was finally gone. Hermoine could feel her heart constricting and her urge to make everything better. Worry flooded into her eyes and she just wanted to hide Harry away to prevent any more bad things happening to him.

Hermione composed herself minutes later after the information had sunk in. Now she knew what had happened on that fateful day. "So?"

"So...what?" Harry asked inquisitively.

"What I wanna know is what's gotten into you. You seem so...different. Like you can't seem to get close enough to me, yet you're afraid that you're going to break me."

Harry blushed feverously. He hadn't put much thought into his actions, he was just so relieved that she was ok and was awake and all seemed to be well. Harry didn't want to let Hermoine out of his sight anymore. He knew that Voldemort had been vanquished and there was no way he could come back again, but he wanted to protect Hermoine and keep her safe for forever and always.

Harry didn't need to say anything; his eyes spoke a million words a second. She could see him thinking, wanting to hold her and protect her, keeping her safe for anything that threatens harm. She could see the love he had for her in his eyes, clearly on display for the world to see. She reached over the blanket and rested her hand on his thigh. "You don't need to speak, I know you love me" Hermoine murmured at an almost inaudible level.

More images were flashing into Hermione's mind as she realized how much Harry loved her. She replayed the past three years in her mind as if she was watching a movie in fast forward. She could see herself getting jealous the few times that Harry had a girlfriend; nobody was ever good enough for her Harry. When their relationships ended she was oddly happy for the next few days, which Harry and Ron always seemed to notice her extra chipperness and always questioned it, but would always brush it off as excitement about school. She would always stay up late with Harry comforting him over his loss but was deeply happy that she had her friend back to herself. Memories of astronomy class and spending late nights star gazing filtered though her mind as well. Hermoine came to a realization and spoke softly when she said to Harry "I love you too."

Harry closed the gap between the two of them and brushed his lips against Hermione's. It was the softest kiss she was ever given, but despite how little they had touched there were sparks of electricity jolting through their bodies. It was like...well for lack of better terminology...magic. There was a faint glow that began to radiate from Harry and Hermoine starting at the tops of their heads and ending at their feet. This had never happened to them before, they had touched and been together forever, but this had never happened.

Hermione felt like there was something pulling her towards Harry, she wanted to be kissing him, wanted to be exploring his body, didn't ever want to leave his side again. She felt like she couldn't get close enough to him, she wondered if this is what Harry had been feeling lately. Her mind was spinning out of control; there were far too many thoughts and not nearly enough hours in the day to go through them all. She was broken of her reverie when she felt lips touching her own once more. She kissed Harry back fiercely. Harry positioned himself to be seated directly in front of her and picked up Hermoine so that she was sitting on his lap. Hands tangled in hair, running up and down backs, after a few minutes Hermoine pulled away from Harry breathing raggedly, she felt light-headed, dizzy and unsteady. She put her forehead against Harry's and looked him in the eyes as she panted the word "wow." Harry smirked and whispered "My sentiments exactly."

Hermione sat leaning against Harry for a moment or two before hesitantly saying "We should go see Poppy, I'm sure she's worried about me by now."

Harry waited a moment longer for their breathing to return to normal and for Hermoine to seem more composed. She never looked more beautiful in Harry's opinion. Lips red and swollen from stimulation, eyes having a slightly glazed look of desire to them, hair looking wind-blown, with a wrinkled t-shirt and worn out jeans. Harry had gotten himself up and held a hand out for Hermoine to help her to her feet. He smiled at her lovingly as he held her hand and they walked towards the castle. They reached the hospital wing within ten minutes time; Harry pushed open the door and allowed Hermoine to walk in first. Poppy furrowed her brows to see them back later than had been instructed of them but she immediately noticed a change in the young couple. There seemed to be an aura about them. Unless her eyes were playing a trick on her they almost seemed to be glowing.

Poppy began fussing over Hermoine straight away asking how she was feeling and looking over her. She was certain now that there was a faint light pulsing around of this girl. "Miss Granger, would you be so kind as to inform me of when this had taken place?"

"When what took place?"

"This aura, When did this begin?"

Hermione averted her eyes as a slight blush crept to her face before she began to recount the events that took place while they were absent. She told Madam Pomfrey of sitting by the lake talking while she confronted Harry. After she had done so she realized that he loved her and realized that she loved him as well, at which point they kissed and she could feel a warm tingling sensation spreading through her body starting at her lips and spreading throughout her entire body until she could feel it all the way down to her toes. She held onto Harry's hand even tighter protectively. She didn't want him to leave her.

Madam Pomfrey had a thoughtful look on her face before she held up a finger to them as if to say "Wait a moment." and retreated to her office to procure a book. She came back seconds later flipping though a peculiarly large volume that Hermoine couldn't make out the title on. "Interesting...very interesting indeed." Poppy was muttering to herself as she read. She had been flipping through the book only a few days ago and had remembered reading something about soul mates. On a rare occasion when wizards and witches have an unusually strong bond, their inner magics will meld together resulting in a glowing aura to appear for a few hours time about them. Such a bond will only be formed after both parties realize they love each other and share an intimate touch. Such a bond can never be broken; the pair has been linked together. They can feel each others thoughts and feelings. Because of such a connective level they will have even stronger children than even if some of the most powerful wizards had created life together.

Hermione looked into Harry's eyes when she heard a voice faintly from within her head. "Are you feeling alright love?"

"How did you do that?" Harry heard echo back into his head "Holy..." Hermoine gasped at the realization that she too could talk to Harry the same way he had just done to her.

Hermione heard Harry's laughter inside her head before he put his arm around her shoulder.

Poppy had explained what she thought the light had been; which had faded to a faint shimmering that resided on their skin. "I think, child, this most likely happened because of Harry. He is an extraordinary young man. The love of his mother was his strongest ward against V-V-Voldemort." Poppy said his name as strongly as she could; he was after all dead now, no use in continuing with the "he-who-must-not-be-name" nonsense. Dumbledore had always insisted on calling him by his name because fear of a name only increases the fear of the object itself. Harry smiled encouragingly. He knew most wizards didn't refer to Voldemort as such, not even his death eaters, to them he was always "the Dark Lord." "She died to save Mr. Potter, a true loving and selfless act. I think that because love had been infused to his body it made him all the more likely that he would find his soul mate." Harry and Hermoine nodded to show they understood.

Harry had taken to softly stroking Hermione's hand and wrist with his fingers as he had been doing previously this morning when she had awoken completely from her unconscious state. Sighing slightly, Hermione had loved the feel of his caresses. She still felt a slight pulling sensation to kiss him more and be close to him, but she knew that now was not the time and hoped the pulling sensation would subside soon enough. Locking eyes with Harry again she pushed a thought into his mind.

"Do you feel a pulling sensation to be close to me?" Her voice echoed in his mind in an almost eerie manner.

"I've been feeling it since that final battle. Since I saw you fall. I wanted to be near you, to protect you, to make everything better again." His voice resounded in her own mind. Tears welled up slightly behind her eyes but she forced them back. She had no idea that he had felt this way for so long now.

"I'll never leave you." Hermione's voice flooded into Harry's mind. Harry squeezed her hand as tears prickled at his own eyes. Harry willed them away as she squeezed his hand back.


End file.
